TESTAMENT — The Legacy (review)

TESTAMENT — The Legacy album cover Album · 1987 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Vim Fuego
Testament has always been a bit hit-and-miss. During their later career, from the late 1990s and beyond, the band found a consistency not present when thrash was in the ascendancy. ‘The New Order’ was a weak album, which was oddly always heaped with praise. This may well be a hangover from the response to the band’s debut album, the stunning ‘The Legacy’. Testament had been around for a good few years before the release of ‘The Legacy’, in fact changing their name from Legacy to Testament. The years in the wilderness allowed the band to sharpen and perfect the songs on this album.

A fair whack of the lyrics on ‘The Legacy’ had been written by original vocalist Steve Souza, replaced by Chuck Billy before the album was recorded. Billy’s vocals are more melodic than Souza’s, meshing strongly with the Peterson/Skolnick guitar team. The lyrics don’t stand up to close examination, “Raging Waters” being a song about sailing into Hell for example, but this is old school thrash, a genre not particularly noted for its lyrical genius anyway. An escaping prisoner, in “Over The Wall”, a paratrooper preparing to jump in “Do Or Die”, and Satanic hordes in pretty much the rest of the album round out the subject matter up for discussion. It’s love it or hate it type stuff.

Rate the lyrics how you like, because the main reason thrash fans loved Testament was the guitars, and let’s face it, guitars are what make metal metal. The guitar combination of Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick was one of the most creative and productive in the Bay Area. Pick any song here and you’ll find a handful of Peterson’s massive riffs and Skolnick’s innovative solos. The riff accompanying the chorus to “Alone In The Dark” is as melodic as Chuck Billy’s vocals, but it is still a hard edged song. “Do Or Die” has some very catchy leads following the chorus. There are many other special metal moments other than these too.

1987 might seem like a long time ago now, but this album has an almost timeless quality. The passage of time has hardly dulled the edge of these songs. A thrash classic in every sense.
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Vim Fuego wrote:
more than 2 years ago
It surprised the hell out of me when I first heard it, because I was expecting it to be a bit flat, like The New Order.
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I love this album, one of my favorite thrash debut.
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
To me it´s the other way around. I think The New Order is a step up from the debut :-)

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